The Electronic Dilemma of TV Advertising: Documentation, The Reactions of Business, Cultural Consequences and Consumer Implications. Working Paper No. 2.

This discussion of the influence of advertising on the development of new media covers ways in which advertising uses the media and the implications of new information technologies for consumers and marketing activities. The first of four sections describes how television advertising has been altered by the development of new technologies--cable, satellites, and data processing--and outlines the consequences of these technological developments for broadcasters and advertisers. Part 2 explains and demonstrates with empirical data the electronic dilemma of advertising, i.e., how viewers avoid commercials through mental absence, physical absence, channel switching, use of the fast-forward button on videotaped programs, and use of remote control to "zap" commercials. Part 3 describes and summarizes measures taken by the media and advertising industry in the United States and Europe to counteract this dilemma and to exploit new possibilities associated with information technologies. Finally, Part 4, which is written from a European perspective, identifies the cultural consequences and implications for consumers of these countermeasures, and proposes public policy measures to counteract unwanted cultural or consumer consequences. A five-page list of references is provided. (JB)